“Sounds good to me,” he replied mildly. “Is this unit something you’re interested in?”
“Sort of.”
Blake wondered if digging for gold was as difficult as this. “What was it?”
“A book report.”
Which usually earned Kevin a zero, since he hated to read.
“Must have been an interesting book,” Blake said carefully.
“It was okay. I’m done eating. I need to meet the guys.”
“What do you have planned for the evening?” Cassie asked Kevin as she spooned more fruit into the twins’ dishes.
“Just hanging out at Brian’s, videos and stuff.”
Blake watched in silent amazement as the exchange continued. Kevin never gave him any details. In fact, he was usually hard-pressed to get him to answer at all.
“Is all your homework done?” Cassie asked. “You have a math test Friday.”
“Yeah. It’s done.” Kevin was scooting his chair backward, scraping it against the tile floor. “I gotta go. The guys are waiting.”
“If your father says it’s all right...”
Kevin looked imploringly at his father. “Dad?”
Clearing his throat, Blake found his voice, realizing he had a part in this after all. “Sounds okay.”
Kevin popped up, not waiting for any second thoughts, grabbing his plate and heading toward the kitchen.
“Be home at nine,” Cassie cautioned him.
“Yeah, yeah. Later.”
The twins quickly finished their fruit and, along with David John, jumped up, pushing their chairs back noisily.
“Mark, you didn’t finish your milk.”
“I’m Todd,” he replied shortly, ignoring the glass.
“No, you’re not. And you usually drink all your milk, Mark. You feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just full.” He squinted at Cassie. “You sure I’m Mark?”
“Very sure.”
He shrugged his shoulders as he sent his identical twin an exasperated glance.
Blake stared between Cassie and the twins. None of the other housekeepers had managed to tell them apart after months of being with them. “You can already tell Mark and Todd apart?”
She glanced at him quizzically. “Of course.” Then she turned her gaze on D.J. and the twins, who were scurrying away. “And what are you three up to?”
“We’re making something,” David John confided, just as Mark elbowed him sharply.
“Come on, D.J., we gotta ditch,” Todd inserted.
Cassie’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t question them. “Take your plates into the kitchen.”
Turning back to the table, they obliged, disappearing quickly.
“D.J.?” Blake questioned.
“His new identity,” Cassie replied with an ironic twist of her lips. “Says David John is a Texas name, and he’s an L.A. dude now.”
Blake couldn’t resist a chuckle.
Jimmy Ray and Katherine Ann were rising, as well, automatically gathering their plates, along with the serving dishes. They trooped into the kitchen, and then footsteps clattered up the back staircase. In an instant, the crowded table had emptied, leaving only a twosome.
The candlelight still flickered between them, and the scent of orange blossoms from the open window wafted through the air.
“Well...” Cassie began.
“So...” Blake said at the same time.
Laughing awkwardly, then letting that fade into silence, they glanced at one another, then away. Cassie folded and refolded her napkin, then ran her fingers up the glass, drawing swirls in the condensation that beaded its exterior.
“The children seem to have taken to you,” Blake said finally, wondering why he, too, had suddenly lost his usually glib tongue.
Cassie shrugged, not drawing her hand away from the glass. “I’m not sure I’d say that. We’re still getting used to one another.”
“It usually takes an act of Congress to pry anything out of Kevin, but you know about his schoolwork, where he’s going.”
Cassie glanced at him in surprise. “I don’t believe in not knowing where my kids are. Kevin pointed out that he wasn’t my kid. So, I told him if he didn’t tell me, I’d follow him. Everywhere he went, I promised to be his shadow. I guess he thought that could be pretty embarrassing, especially in front of his friends.”
Blake tried not to let cynical amusement color his tone. “I guess it would be, at that. How’d you come up with that plan? It would never have occurred to me.”
“I’ve been taking care of my children on my own for a long time now. I’ve gotta be smarter than them, or they could run over me. Especially boys. They tend to listen to a man more than a woman. Knowing I didn’t have a man around, I couldn’t let go of my control. Since Kevin wasn’t already in my control, I had to be a little more ingenious.”
Her eyes had that tough fierceness in them again. Still, they resembled smoke in the diffused light. Blake lifted his glass, saluting her. “However you managed it, I’m glad. You might have noticed that the boys are headstrong.”
She pursed her lips as her eyes widened a fraction. “I guess you could say that.”
“You thinking I’m the master of understatement?” he asked, unable to repress a grin.
A smile tugged at her full lips, and she tossed her head back, allowing the candlelight to warm the burnished wheat of her hair. “So you’re not convinced that your children are perfect?”
“Far from it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have needed you.”
Another silent moment lumbered between them. He hadn’t meant to phrase the words quite that way. Need was a powerful emotion, one he hadn’t allowed himself for a long time.
“My children are glad you needed a nanny. The city’s like another world to them,” she answered softly.
“What about you, Cassie? Is it another world to you, as well?”
She played with the glass again, circling the beads of water with her fingers. “It is different. I used to think about exploring new places.”
“Why’d you stop?”
Her face tightened, driving away the softness. “I grew up,” she replied shortly in a brisk voice. She rose in a sudden movement. “I need to get this cleared away.”
“That’s Maria’s job.”
“Where I come from, everyone pitches in. I don’t expect anyone to do what I won’t.”
Puzzled, he wondered at the change in her. All the softness was gone. Yet she still looked different. Too different for comfort.
“But I’m spending most of my time with the kids,” she continued. “They’re not lacking for attention. It’s just that I can’t stand leaving a mess for Maria.” She held out a hand to stop an expected protest. “And, yes, I know it’s her job, but that’s just how I am. You probably know that by now, though. And I can’t change my spots or—”
“I give in,” he managed to squeeze in. “Didn’t mean to start another speech.”
She flushed, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m rattling on again, aren’t I?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to go after those spots of yours.”
Cassie wished she possessed just a shred of decorum. But around him, she seemed to lose what little she had. Deliberately, she made herself be brief. “Right.”
The back door opened suddenly, surprising them, since the kids were all in the house. Cassie watched as a tall, beautiful woman swept inside, heading directly for Blake. In an instant, she crossed the room and launched herself into his arms.
Cassie felt every inch the country hick as the elegant, stylish woman attached herself to Blake, kissing his cheek as a silvery laugh erupted from sensuous lips. “Oh, darling. This European jaunt’s taken its toll on you. You seem positively domestic.”
Blake gently disengaged himself. “I wasn’t expecting you, Daphne.”
She raised dark, skillfully arched brows. “Of course not, it’s one of my talents—delivering the unexpected.” Her dark gaze flickered toward Cassi
e and rested on her briefly, the quick look assessing, then dismissing.
Feeling light-years away in sophistication, Cassie wished she could fade quietly into the background. But Blake brought her forward instead.
“Daphne, this is the boys’ new nanny, Cassie Hawkins.”
Cassie automatically stretched out her hand.
“Cassie, this is my sister-in-law, Daphne Kerara.”
Daphne didn’t completely ignore Cassie’s outstretched hand, but instead of taking it, she offered a limp semiwave. Cassie lowered her hand, trying to disguise her awkwardness with an overly bright smile. “Glad to meet you, Mrs. Kerara.”
“Ms.,” Daphne replied. “No attachment implied or taken, right, Blake?”
“She’s between divorces,” Blake offered, for Cassie’s benefit. “But I imagine she’s got her eyes set on some poor, unsuspecting slob.”
Looking between them, it took only a few seconds for Cassie to guess just who that unsuspecting slob was. She managed to smile, in spite of the unreasonable pain that discovery caused, She directed her words at Daphne. “I’m divorced myself. I guess we have something in common.”
A look of disbelieving distaste crossed Daphne’s perfect features. “Um.”
“Cassie’s from Texas,” Blake offered.
“I didn’t think the accent sounded local,” Daphne replied, her tone indicating barely concealed disdain.
Cassie’s smile dimmed a few watts.
“Cassie has three kids of her own, two boys and a girl,” Blake inserted in the awkward pause.
“Guess you need to be getting home to them,” Daphne replied, her eyes still measuring Cassie—obviously an automatic predator’s gesture.
“They live here...with me,” she answered quietly.
“You mean six kids live here now?” Daphne turned her disbelieving gaze on Blake. “Are you crazy? Three was too many!”
A slight tic in Blake’s jaw was the only indication of how her tactless words affected him. “Only in your opinion. Elizabeth and I were thrilled that the two planned babies turned into three.”
“My sister, bless her, had some unusual likes and dislikes.” Daphne’s glance turned coy as she directed it at Blake. “Of course, some of her choices were first-rate.”
Cassie felt as though she were watching a very wily cat stalking a hapless canary.
Blake laughed. “You’re only saying that because you know I’m safe. With three kids, I’m not on your eligible list.”
“There’s always a prep school waiting in the wings,” Daphne replied.
Blake’s easy grin tightened slightly. “And you know that’s not an option. Besides, I’m mere family. You’re hunting big game this time.”
Daphne scarcely hesitated before issuing another silvery laugh. “You know me too well, darling.” She turned a pointed glance on Cassie. “But I did have some things to discuss with you.”
Taking the weighty, obvious hint, Cassie stepped toward the doorway. “If you’ll excuse me—”
“That’s all right, Cassie. I don’t think you finished what you wanted to do in here.” Blake’s gaze rested on the still-cluttered table she had insisted on clearing. “We’ll go into my office.”
“Oh, let’s make it the den,” Daphne suggested in her throaty voice. “It’s so much...cozier.”
Watching the woman all but glue herself to Blake’s side, Cassie couldn’t help comparing her to the image she’d formed of Blake’s deceased wife. Daphne had shattered that image completely.
Mark skidded down the stairs. “We need some glue.”
Automatically she turned to the pantry and reached inside. “Just don’t glue anything you’re not supposed to.”
“Yeah.” He reached for the white tube she held out.
But Cassie didn’t release it immediately. “Your aunt Daphne’s here. I imagine you and your brothers will want to visit with her.”
Mark pulled a disgruntled face. “How come?”
Surprised, she stared at him. “Well, because she’s your aunt.”
“So?”
Cassie couldn’t understand his reaction. “She’s your mother’s sister. I thought you’d—”
“She’s nothing like Mom. She doesn’t even like us.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can’t mean that,” Cassie replied, automatically reaching out to smooth his troubled brow.
Mark jerked back a bit, and Cassie let her hand fall away, knowing he wasn’t ready yet for a stand-in parent.
“Daphne only comes here to see Dad. She thinks we’re in the way.”
Realizing that Daphne had known Blake was in Europe, yet hadn’t stopped in to visit her nephews, Cassie guessed that Mark might be right. Knowing better than to argue a point she wasn’t sure of, Cassie handed him the bottle of glue. “Well, your dad certainly doesn’t feel that way about you guys.”
“Yeah, I guess. He’s busy at work a lot, but he can’t help that.” His look was more than a touch defensive.
Cassie felt an unexpected tugging. Despite his brave front, Mark needed reassurance that he was wanted by his father. “That’s why he hired me, Mark. He hates that he can’t be with you and your brothers more, and he wants to make sure that you have someone around who cares about you.”
His look was suspicious. “Why should you care?”
She took a deep breath. “It’s just who I am, I guess. Just like how I know you’re Mark and not Todd. I know you haven’t had a lot of time to get to know me, but this is more than just a job to me. It’s a new opportunity for my kids, too, something that makes them happy. We’re doing each other a favor. I can be around when your Dad can’t, and we get to be part of your family.”
Mark shrugged, and she could sense his internal struggle. “Yeah, well, I gotta get back with the glue.”
“Sure. You want to take some cookies with you? For you and the other guys?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” But despite a show of disinterest, he trailed her to the counter, and accepted the plate of homemade cookies.
She made one final effort. “Will you tell Todd that your aunt is here?”
Mark headed toward the stairs. “He won’t care, either.”
Even though she knew that Maria would clean the kitchen at the end of the evening, Cassie rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. Then, taking nearly another hour, she straightened and cleaned the kitchen, needing the familiar sense of order. It had surprised her to feel an unexpected pang of jealousy when she saw Daphne wrap herself around Blake.
She’d thought her reactions to him earlier were the result of the length of time that had passed since she had any interaction with a man. She hadn’t counted on there being something more to those feelings. Certainly not jealousy, or the emotions that prompted it.
She glanced longingly out the window at the huge swimming pool, wishing she could diffuse some of her sudden tension by swimming endless laps. Even if she had a decent suit, she wouldn’t put it on with Daphne around. She felt inferior enough without putting herself on display for more condescension.
Hearing adult voices, Cassie pulled her apron off, planning to disappear up the stairs and avoid another encounter. But the door opened just as she reached the first step.
“Oh, if it isn’t Mary Poppins,” Daphne commented, in that sultry voice of hers.
Cassie felt her backbone stiffening. She might be an employee in this house, but she didn’t intend to be treated like an eighteenth-century scullery maid.
“Glad you’re still here,” Blake said before she could reply. “You can tell Daphne how well we’re all getting on.”
Briefly Cassie met his eyes and saw him signal silently for her agreement. She paused for only a moment. “The boys are quite content.”
“I’m only concerned about their welfare,” Daphne replied, an obvious challenge lurking beneath the innocent words.
So much that you didn’t call once when their father was out of the country, Cassie thought to herself, seeing through Daphne
’s barely veiled machinations.
“That’s why Cassie’s here—to provide the right kind of care.”
Daphne tapped perfect French-manicured nails on the counter. “I really should see more of them.”
With a sinking feeling, Cassie guessed that the woman intended to appear often, staking a claim to her late sister’s husband.
Blake took Daphne’s elbow. “Thanks for your concern. And for stopping by. Sorry I don’t have more time, but—”
“I know. Business calls. But you have to admit, it doesn’t have a voice like mine.”
“No argument there.” He kissed her cheek, and she lingered in the doorway.
“Good night, Ms. Kerara,” Cassie added.
The other woman barely glanced her direction. “Yes. Good night.” Daphne looked as though she desperately wanted to stay. Instead, she sidled her slinky body out the door, deliberately leaving a provocative image behind.
Stepping down from the landing, Cassie reached for the apron she’d hastily tossed on the counter, intending to fold it. “I’m finished in here. I’ll let you get to your work.”
“Not tonight.”
“But you said—”
“Daphne’s rather insistent. A white lie’s more diplomatic than the truth.”
“Which is?”
“She’s a very wearing person.”
Cassie chose her words carefully. “Then she’s not that much like your wife was?”
Blake laughed—a hearty disbelieving sound. “They couldn’t be more different. Daphne was several years older than Elizabeth, the child of their father’s first wife—the original dragon lady. Elizabeth was born when their father was older and apparently wiser. And Elizabeth’s mother had the same sweet quality she passed on to her daughter. So Elizabeth had better odds of turning out right.”
“Were the sisters close?”
“In her own strange way, Daphne was very fond of Elizabeth. Even though she resented her father taking a second wife, Daphne liked having a younger sister who idolized her.” He smiled wryly. “You might have guessed that she’s not averse to a little goddess worship.”
“Or a lot.”
“So you did notice.”
Cassie placed the folded apron is a drawer. “Hard to miss. But I shouldn’t be criticizing your family.”
His-And-Hers Family Page 7
